Engineering Visionary Scholarship profile: Sarah Osman

7/1/2019 The Grainger College of Engineering

Written by The Grainger College of Engineering

“I was confident that an engineering degree from the Grainger College of Engineering would be great preparation for my future career as an engineer.”

Sarah Osman was a transfer student from her local community college and has recently graduated from The Grainger College of Engineering’s Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering. She plans to continue her education by pursuing a master’s degree in mechanical engineering with a research focus in biomechanics. Receiving an Engineering Visionary Scholarship allowed Osman to increase the amount of time spent as a Research Assistant at Carle Foundation Hospital, where she worked to develop “a solution that would change someone’s life.” She has been creating an oxygen encapsulating formula, with applications in cancer research and eye disease, and has designed pharmaceutical equipment components for a potential patent.

As an undergraduate, Osman competed in Illini Formula Electric and was a member of the Pi Tau Sigma Mechanical Engineering Honor Society. In her free time, she loves to sing and spend time outside in nature. 

As a woman in engineering, Osman is inspired to pay it forward “with a means of currency that every person has - time.” Osman said, “I always make it a goal to encourage women to consider a career in engineering, particularly those who are undecided or unhappy with their current majors. Too many girls and women, my former self included, hesitate from even learning about what this field entails and fail to see what they are missing out on. I hope that when I am financially independent, I will be able to provide my time, support and financial resources towards encouraging new generations of engineers—male and female.”

The Grainger Matching Challenge is matching donations up to $25 million to Grainger Engineering's undergraduate scholarship endowments from January 1, 2017 through December 31, 2019. There are still matching funds available!

Photo by L. Brian Stauffer, University of Illinois.


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This story was published July 1, 2019.